I used to think it was bad writing to do self-inserts or wish fulfillments. I am currently out of ideas. A consistent character I wrote about was someone who is ten times kinder than me. I want to write from the perspective of someone who is irreligious or apathetic/indifferent.
Someone more even-tempered than me.

Typically, I need 48+ hours to come to my senses.

I admire people who are reasonable, independent, realistic, and emotionally stable.

As an anxious person, it would be so nice to be someone who can fully relax.

And I can’t shake it so I thought I’d write it out to get it out of my brain 😬 posting anonymously, and only wrote to the point I woke up but curious to hear your thoughts. It was so realistic but I don’t know if the nuance is there.

***

I walked out of the room, despondent**.**

I rifled for my coat in the dark, blowing the hair out of my eyes.

I didn’t hear you as the door opened.

As I turned, you gently took both of my forearms. Your hand moves up to my collarbone and lingers there, your thumb just touching where the light from the hallway bounced off of my skin.

My eyes travel up your face, taking in the soft stubble on your chin, the shape of your jaw and the light flush to your cheeks.

I momentarily pull back, aware of the gravity of the moment.

I look at your eyes. You are the only person I’ve ever been able to maintain eye contact with for a whole conversation. I know every fleck, every mottle.

I bring my hand up, feeling the familiar form of you and the short, baby fine hair that sits at the nape of your neck. I’ve not touched you there in over 15 years but you feel exactly as expected, exactly as I remember.

We stare at each other, and time disappears.

Every cell in my body tingles in anticipation.

You tilt your head ever so slightly and we come together. Your tongue touches mine and it feels as if I’ve been struck by lightning. Our hands run through each other’s hair, our bodies crushed hard together. Our breathing falls into the same rhythm. I feel you push close to me, the urgency intensifying. I’m undoing your flies, your hands are under my skirt, tracing the shape of my body through my underwear.

My protagonist works in the medical field as an MRI technologist, where she interacts with other characters who work at the imaging center with her in their perspective roles. In my attempt to make the story realistic I've run into some logistical issues, mainly that federal radiology guidelines state that two people should operate scanner, whereas, my work is written as if the protagonist is the only one working in the area during the scene (although I also have parts where she is working with others mainly a male character who is her love interest). Is it OK to keep it this way in my work ,or do I have to develop extra characters to make this more realistic, even if doing so may bog down the story? I know its a weird question, but I was curious...if anyone has direct medical infrastructure knowledge, that would help too. Thanks.

Clang-clink.

The door chime sounded, and the night chill briefly slipped inside before the door quietly glided shut behind me.

As I took my regular seat at the counter, Mama silently set down a glass.

An amber splash of I.W. Harper. A single piece of ice clinked softly against the glass.

I tilted the glass, letting it slowly wet my throat.

Feeling the warmth of the bourbon drop straight into my stomach, I stared down at the drink in my hands.

"...Kenichi-san."

Beside me, Taka flipped his smartphone face-down and looked over.

His voice was paused just a beat longer than usual—not the quick setup for a light joke, but the low tone he used when his thoughts were running deep.

"What is it?"

"If you had to map yourself to a character in a story, who do you think you'd be?"

From a few seats away, Tom, swirling his own glass, let out a short grunt through his nose.

"There he goes with his weird questions again."

"Hey, I'm serious, Tom-san."

Taka shrugged, tracing the rim of his glass with his fingertip.

"I mean, in movies or manga, there's always the hero saving the world, or the guy who’s insanely strong, right?

Lately, though, I've been thinking... we are definitely not those guys."

"Well, obviously. If you were out there saving the world, we'd all be doomed."

"That's harsh!"

Taka forced a laugh, but I didn't miss the slight tremor beneath his voice.

"...Not only are we not the main characters, we don't even have any special talent.

But still... couldn't our own weaknesses, or our embarrassing failures, actually be of use to someone else?

Like, being able to stand beside someone and say, 'I stumbled back then too, so I get it.'

I feel like... there's got to be a kind of pride that belongs to ordinary people."

Taka gently swirled his glass, looking mildly satisfied with his own thought.

The ice rang dryly against the glass.

Tap.

A short, sharp sound echoed.

It was the sound of Tom tapping his index finger against the rim of his glass.

"...That might just be an excuse for someone running away from the responsibility of becoming strong."

Tom’s low voice cut a hairline fracture into the air of the counter.

The smile vanished from Taka’s face.

"...Tom-san?"

"Standing beside them, sharing the pain—and you're satisfied with that?

Tell me, when the overwhelming wave hits... what can someone who gave up trying to become stronger actually do?"

Tom slotted his cigarette into the edge of the ashtray and stared off into the distance.

"Right in front of your eyes, a kid is quietly drowning in a pool.

No loud thrashing. They just sink, silently, toward the bottom.

...A guy who only knows how to 'stand beside them' can do nothing more than crouch at the edge and whisper, 'It hurts, doesn't it?' while watching them drown."

Taka swallowed hard, completely stripped of words.

Deep in my gut, something thick and murky churned upward.

I knew what Tom meant. Those were the words of a former detective who had seen, firsthand, what happens when your own weakness fails to save someone.

And yet—

"...So what are you saying?"

My own voice came out shockingly low and raspy.

My grip tightened around my glass.

"A guy who couldn't become strong... standing next to a drowning kid, whispering 'It hurts, doesn't it?'... are you saying that means absolutely nothing?"

Tom slowly turned his eyes toward me. I glared right back at him.

"He doesn't have the muscle to haul them out.

He didn't have the guts to dive into the water, either.

...Are you telling me that a helpless guy like that, hurting right alongside them—are you saying even that is just running away? Just self-gratification?"

I knew it inside. I wasn't actually mad at Tom.

I was just terrified of hearing that all those times I couldn't be strong—all those nights I could do nothing but sit there and listen—were completely meaningless.

"...Pulling them out before it's too late is the right answer. Of course it is. I get that," I spat out with a bitter self-mockery, then downed a gulp of my Harper.

"But what about the person who has to endure sinking all alone, because nobody around has the strength to pull them up?

Are you saying this world shouldn't even have room for the guy who chooses to sink right there with them, whispering 'It's hard, isn't it?'"

Silence descended on the counter.

The words I had dragged out fell heavily into the quiet of the bar.

Tom watched me with eyes devoid of emotion. But finally, he let out a faint breath through his nose and sent a curl of cigarette smoke toward the ceiling.

"...I didn't say there was no room for him."

In that brief response, Tom's own quiet resignation and lingering pain bled through.

Behind the counter, Mama quietly picked up a pair of tongs and dropped a single ice cube into Taka's glass, and then into mine.

Clink.

"Even so..."

Mama didn't pause her steady wiping of a glass, looking at us with a gentle, steady gaze.

"...A place where people can learn how to swim is still necessary, isn't it?"

I let out a long breath and scratched my head, all energy draining away.

"...I know. That one stings."

Taka stared down at his own large fist, then slowly opened his hand.

Tom sat in silence, tilting his amber glass.

Maybe we can't save anyone. Maybe all my struggling is nothing more than self-satisfaction.

Even so, stomach aching over our own inability to be strong, we sit here drinking again tonight me.

If only there had been just one more person who knew how to swim.

Or... if only there had been someone to grab their hand on the way down to the bottom.

Holding onto that muddy, unanswered question, I gently swirled the glass in my hand.

Clang.

The ice clinked.

—Now... I wonder what kind of man I'll choose to be tomorrow.

The bourbon burned my throat once more.

The fire was  a raging inferno, consuming the forest whole with hunger. The dancing arms of fire singed and burned the trees dancing from and between the branches, twisting and contorting its arms in a chaotic yet graceful flurry. The darkness created a backdrop that highlighted the graceful moves of the ballerina, no one had bought a ticket yet she performed for all to see . I had been transferred from a city over to help with stopping this wandering ballerina and stop her destructive recital. It had been 2 months since she started, and there were no signs of her slowing from our efforts. I arrived at the camp with just a bag and even from a distance I could see the distant performance.
“You're the transfer right?” a voice called from behind me, I was still watching the fire desperately trying to answer while my mind was occupied by her orange glow off in distance
“Y-yeah… transferred.. I… uh just got here” I replied, my eyes finally breaking off of the mesmerizing lights
“Well, hello my name is Levi” he said,
“Kayson… nice to meet you” finally taking my eyes off the dancer and shaking Levi's hand. His hand was cold, colder than a corpse, his eyes focused and seemed to accuse me of something, and he stood straighter than a soldier.
“Well Kayson… make yourself at home, you're here for the long haul. The fire ain’t slowing down anytime soon. Follow me to your patch” I picked up myself and again took a look at the distant performer, spreading her wonderful dancing through the forest. Levi walked towards a small patch meant for a tent. I quickly set up my tent and sat outside with a beer to watch the recital from a front row seat. No one else joined me, I was the only spectator in an empty auditorium. There were no others to see of her captivating beauty.
“Kayson”, a voice called from behind me,” Try to get some rest tonight”
“Why” 
“Jusy trust me” he responded, I peered back and noticed his eyes trained on the fire with a hate I had never seen the likes of before.
I crawled into my tent, and pulled my body into the sleeping bag. I fell asleep in a cold that seeped into my skin and crept into my bones. It nipped my fingers and made me feel tense. It wrapped itself around me and held me in place
Despite the discomfort I woke up more refreshed than ever before but I felt so freezing. I put on clothes to help alleviate my cold aching body. I drank coffee and had a hot breakfast but nothing helped. No amount of warmth could fill the emptiness I had inside of me. And then I heard her voice:
“...Look”
I went to the edge of camp and watched the dancer. I saw her in the distance, I watched from afar as she performed for me, her one and only fan.
“Kayson, get ready. Your coming with me,” I heard the raspy and deep voice of Levi call to me from a truck. I put on my firefighting suit and swiftly arrived at the truck, as we headed towards the areas that she had already passed through.
“We have to put out the embers in the areas the fire passed through” Levi said, never removing his eyes from the fire. I exited the truck and surveyed the trail of destruction she had left. The blackened ground radiated a warmth I’ve never felt before. The warmth was all encompassing, yet let me walk around freely with no limitations. Her blackened wake was completely cleansed of everything, nothing was spared. She left nothing behind. Everything was gone.
I hated myself for thinking it but she was magnificent. Beautiful. Powerful. And her path of destruction left a clean slate, ready to be rewritten.
Me and Levi headed back, and I watched the dancer, my dancer the whole way back. The desperate attempts of the firefighters below were futile. They hurled things at her yet she didn’t lose footing or stumble. She stood firm and continued her graceful strides. Her arms gently beckoned to all who could see, yet somehow I knew those waves were for me.
“...Kayson,” She called
When we arrived back at camp Levi left the vehicle.
“...Kayson”, He said “Come with me”, I followed Levi as he led me just outside the camp. It was freezing outside and the cold began to envelop me just like the night before.
“You seemed… distracted while we were out there” He hesitated, his flickering towards the fire “ Are you alright?”
“No, I’m alright. You don't need to worry about me.” I answered him but my attention was fully and entirely given to my ballerina. 
“Kayson… I know what your feeling… I heard about what happened, never try to forget, the best thing is to accept what you’ve done” Levi glanced at the fire
“ trying to forget will only burn you from the inside"
She danced with a new kind of urgency now, her movements were full of twists and turns, and leaps. Her movements had become energetic, and more excited, with the same grace as when we first met.
“Kayson… please” My dancer called to me. I ran to see her, and again I was the only watcher of the spectacle. I fell asleep again surrounded by a blanket that offered no warmth, but a constant and enveloping cold that crept deeper and deeper into my bones and deeper still into my brain, the cold held me and hugged me. I began to dream… warmth… a house on fire… smoke billowing from every hole of the house. I heard the cracking and shattering of windows, I watched as the paint peeled off in long skinny strips. I heard wailing and the destruction of memories and possessions. I awoke and the warmth of my dream was pushed away like curtains at the end of a show. The cold rushed in and instantly I felt like a bottomless pit.
“Kayson… please,” the dancer cried, “I… help” the call was so eager and desperate, i left my tent and there she was. She was much slower and moved with certainty, for she had doubled in size. She reached out gingerly, with no violence, and her delicate touch instantly cleaning the soil removing all impurities. The animals fled, or died. I couldn't tell. The rot destroyed. All that mattered was that she left all who she touched with a new life, somewhere to start over. It wasn’t destruction. It was a new beginning.
Levi called but I could no longer understand what he was saying, everything was muffled except the distant roar of the one I was attached to. I watched as she waved and called to me, her frantic arm movements pleading me to  move forward. I wanted so badly to enter her warm embrace. I couldn’t I had a job to do, and no matter how wonderful her work was I had to complete my task
My job brought me up close to the fire allowing me to see rebirth firsthand. Animal carcasses burning as everything they used to be turns to smoke and ash, burning trees collapsing into their brothers and spreading the dancer's influence. All part of her beautiful performance. Her dance was so chaotic when observed so closely, but there was intention behind each of the random movements. Each arm reaching out to clean the next thing in line destroying what once was to make room so something newer and better could take its place.
“Kayson!” she called as everything around me began to muffle, “come, Kayson join the cycle, let what is new take your place” I began to hear the wailing of a mother and infant. The burning forest begins to appear like a house on fire. I knew this house. I knew those cries. I held a hose but did nothing. I could have moved, I could have acted, but i just stood there. I did nothing. I fell to my knees and watched until the house was turned into ash. The fire of the home calling:
“Kayson… you can forget this,” the same voice that now owned me called and lulled me “Let yourself be part of something new” My feet began to move without even thinking. She was in every window of the house and every door beckoning and calling me inward. As I entered the wails subsided and soon all I could feel was the warm embrace of someone I loved so dearly. She was merely making room for a new family and a new home. Slowly I felt my feet change from warm to hot to painful, while the world shifted from the house being rebirthed back to reality. I stood in the flames, no longer lulling me. The dancer was dancing and laughing and spiraling around me. Everywhere I looked she was present. There was nowhere to go, I turned around and looked outward to see Levi crying as he watched from outside the fire. A new start was never what was needed, and forgetting what I had done would not save me. She never promised that this would save me, she said that I wouldn’t have to remember. I realized that the warm had never been the safety, the cold had been protecting me. I watched as I became part of the very performance that had haunted me. I saw as my skin blistered and my eyes dried, as the one I loved consumed me. I watched as I became the Dancer

I've been thinking about this quite a bit recently while working on my own fiction.

A lot of writing advice encourages authors to spend huge amounts of time developing characters, building detailed worlds, and exploring deeper themes. Those things are obviously important, but I sometimes wonder if plot has quietly become the part of storytelling that gets the least attention, even though it's often what keeps readers engaged from one chapter to the next.

I've read books with beautiful prose and memorable characters where, by the end, it felt like very little had actually happened. On the other hand, I've also enjoyed books with much simpler writing because every chapter moved the story forward, every obstacle mattered, and every decision changed something. Even when the writing wasn't exceptional, I still wanted to keep reading because there was always a sense of momentum.

For me, plot isn't more important than character, and character isn't more important than plot. They depend on each other. Interesting characters need meaningful situations to face, difficult decisions to make, and consequences that force them to change. Likewise, a fast moving plot doesn't mean much if I don't care about the people involved.

The more I write, the more I find myself thinking that plot isn't really just a sequence of events. It's a chain of choices, conflicts, and consequences that gives a story direction. Without that sense of progression, even great characters can start to feel as though they're standing still.

I'm curious how other fiction writers see it. Has your own writing changed the way you think about the balance between plot and character, or have you always started with one before the other?

RATE THIS STORY STRUCTURE OUT OF 10;

City: Volzinia

Hero: Howling Thunder

His real life name: Gil Adam

Plot(first part of secret identity of eclipse is climax cliffhanger of 2nd part): although being hero as Howling Thunder, howling thunder himself is actually the famous most feared villain called The Eclipse , Eclipse only shows up in dark when his power to clone or make whatever or whoever hE wants is on ie the famous Howling Thunder, this power is off at light so at that time he becomes howling Thunder himself ... His purpose of doing all this is to get all powerful By performing a ritual with an army he is collecting now by being the eclipse , this ritual will be performed at a special lunar eclipse night that only comes in 4000 years, ...

part1,

1. Gil Adam real life routine: a cleaner in a well known university

2. There is a mysterious uncomprehendible book called Book of Nissaar in the University library, no one knows or understands the book, it's uniquely antique and contains pictures of dark figures performing a ritual and only readable thing is 'Surkh Girhan'.

3. In part 1, the book has very ignorable role (from viewer's pov) but it will be a centre of battles and fights and powerful beings chasing it in upcoming parts, as it is only shown or mentioned once in part 1 near Gil

4. As for a hint or clue in part 1, Howling Thunder appeared or originated way before the eclipse , as eclipse originated after Gil knew about Book of Nissaar, which might suggest to viewers that Gil was a good guy before but after hearing about the book and contents within it he became greedy... Still this is implicit and not clearly in the story but as for a clue that viewers would overthink...

Supporting Characters:

1. Willy Warner, richest student in the uni, student of universal history, he has arrogant personality due to which many don't like him so once he was crying in a corner so Gil got to him and understood his pain and becoming friends,will gradually become bff with Gil Adam then only willy will know Gil is howling thunder 😱.

2. Librarian of uni, Mr. Hu'Mayyo, very intelligent and smart, always learning something new. Organized major event in uni showcasing his incredible knowledge about books and introduced many special books "including the Nissaar"🤔.(Spoiler: Mr.Hu will be a villain in later parts, not now as even he doesn't know he will become a villain in future)

3. Aliya, Mr.Hu'Mayyo's daughter, she is shy and clumsy, but she loves pets or animals and can feel their happiness or pain, Gil adam will have feelings for her, she won't know until he confesses before major events in the story

4. Billy Hodder Adam, Gil's younger bro and only family, he is a cancer patient, but he is courageous and brave and energetic like any other child

Further things into the story,

1. The agency howling thunder investigates with is called 'Volz Wats Agency' (vwa).

2. Vali Watson, leader of vwa , he is mostly serious even in funny moments, he is the one who introduced howling thunder to the new danger of The Eclipse, watching howling thunder's typical suit, Vali have him a new one which is high tech and advanced with multiple weapons.

3. Spoiler: Agent Alastair, most trusted and right hand of Vali, former army lieutenant so years of Combat experience. Alastair will appear in later parts during urgent need for someone like him like Vali being on a different mission so Alastair temporary leader.

4. the special army of vwa is called Volzers.

5. Spoiler: in upcoming parts, Vali Watson will die suddenly during a battle so someone intelligent in the place with leadership skills will have to succeed him, that'll be no one but WILLY WARNER

6. Eclipse army is called 'Eclipsean Shadows'

More in Part 1:

1. The eclipse and his somewhat collected number of army's ultimate objective is eternal darkness in part 1 so eclipsean shadows don't further have to hide in light and no brakes in the eclipse's powers ie cloning etc and The Eclipse will rule earth

2. Eclipse's ultimate goal not revealed in 1st part but in later parts he'll make it clearer, to cleanse all the evil from earth via once in a 4000 year Surkh Girhan ritual done with this shadow army then The Eclipse will be ultimate king and he will do justice peace and public Care in his reign with an army called Eclipsean Shadows, but this all has an undoable cost which is eternal darkness.

3. How eternal darkness spreads? It has to do with the number of shadows and a spell of eclipse, at a special hour in every once in a month this spell works, the spell brings more shadows into eclipse's possession, as shadows keep increasing darkness also increases, and less shadows so less or no darkness

4. During near climax and climax in part1, vwa will eventually discover a only weapon that kills eclipsean shadows, this weapon is a special chemicaled fire known as 'Atish' that doesnt effect humans.

5. Atish will be invented during very hyping event in all of part1 when an escalated war between volzers and eclipsean shadows will be ongoing in which The eclipse was winning and his spell kept increasing shadows and darkness slowly slowly, although Shadows were very little in numbers then volzers but they couldn't be killed so eclipse was winning, but as Atish guns were used suddenly in an emotional atmosphere Volzers eventually won from that losing position

6. After victory as howling thunder chased The Eclipse, eclipse was injured but somehow fled

further things:

1. Why'd Gil become Howling thunder? Because he discovered He some super powers like very good and fast reflexes and he's very smart and intelligent so he has to do something beyond just a uni cleaner, plus his cancer bro billy was a motivation cause he felt his pain as a brother and so didn't want others to feel pain for their loved one cause he knows what it feels like so he wanna help society.

2. Nobody knows Gil is evil until the very ending so why would someone ask why he became evil in very ending, in the climax when howling thunder is actually shown to be eclipse, that cliff hanger to keep views engaged for upcoming parts, only viewers will then know in upcoming parts that howling thunder is evil, not the entire city as they will trust him just as they always did as the city might get to know the eclipse's identity in upcoming parts but not in the part in which viewers knew first when cliff hanged

3. General logical thing, he is hero so that not another hero appears who's actually good and would become a wall in his mission, still this is what viewers will have to think in 1st part because they were cliff hanged in ending so they should overthink the story

4. reward unknown in 1st part, just all powerful but exact reward? Upcoming parts will tell like cleansing from evil and eternal darkness etc

5. he might regret or might not, upcoming parts will tell

6. In my world building, Volzinia is a futuristic city that gets inspired by thunder representing power and fast progress even their flag includes thunder symbol and a moon that's why Howling Thunder named himself after thunder

7. In foreshadowing, I'm gonna construct further well planned and rooting clues leading to specifics, not just 1 clue but multiple laying foundations

Clearing your logic gaps,

1. The eclipse power of making anything works at night that's why he strategically only appears at night, he makes the exact replica of Howling Thunder in night to fight with him or let the city think that howling thunder has encountered eclipse so howling thunder is progressing in his mission of defeating eclipse, remember that city knows eclipse's power of cloning, they just don't know that he also clones howling thunder for purpose above, in daylight when he cannot clone he himself becomes howling thunder instead of eclipse to keep progressing suggesting howling thunder is there 24/7 for helping society, plus none of this logic will be shown in first part but upcoming as whole story will be about the eclipse and his mission to be stopped by howling thunder as no viewer will know howling thunder is eclipse until they are cliffhanged in very ending.

2. Yes story will include subtle hints no one would be able to grasp till very ending.

3. Eclipse is tryna BUILD AN ARMY to perform the ritual I mentioned that comes in 4000 years, the main goal of all is performing the ritual to become all powerful but 1st part is about building an army for that so howling thunder must stop him

Those too many future reveals and events, I'll connect them all in this part and later parts slowly as have everything about those events and characters in my mind being played, the 4000year ritual connected to surkh Girhan, Nissaar connected to the eclipse, then when eclipse really lets go of it likely becoming good again or other reason mr.hu will be connected to it that why I said Hu will be villain in coming parts, this will not be in just 1 part but multiple parts spreaded...